Fight of my life

In this episode, our guest shares their experience of two extreme states: psychosis and depression. They talk about how they managed to overcome intense adversity and the teachings that followed. They speak about how reading 200 books in 2 years helped them find purpose and how they found a way to find a life worth fighting for.

Please keep in mind that this guest would like to remain anonymous.

✨ Check out the Star Size Comparison video mentioned in this episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEheh1BH34Q

Come and listen with:

Lucy (She/Her) – A big fan of ice cream and storytelling

Rachel (She/Her) – Social Worker, Dialogical Practitioner, mad footy fan and wildly passionate about transforming the culture of mental health services to be person-led and human rights informed.

Incredible artwork @sharleencu_art

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT- Lost and Found

[00:00:01] Lucy: This podcast has conversations around different mental health experiences that may be distressing for some people. If that doesn’t feel like something you want to explore today, you might want to visit another podcast and come back to us another time.

[00:00:14] Rachel: discovery college acknowledges the traditional owners of country throughout Australia and recognises their continuing connection to lands, waters and community. We pay our respects to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to the elders, past and present. They have never ceded sovereignty.

[00:00:32] Lucy: In this podcast, we share stories that help us learn from each other, connect us and inspire growth. We want to acknowledge that this way of being, of coming together to share knowledge and stories, is a tradition that has already existed on this land for hundreds of thousands of years as a part of the culture of First Nations people.

[00:00:51] Rachel: discovery college acknowledges the views shared in this podcast are about mental health experiences, but are not a substitute for professional mental health advice and support. The views in this podcast are not the views of Alfred Health, but are the views of the individuals we’ve had conversations with.

[00:01:07] Lucy: The stories we share on this podcast aren’t just stories, but memories of the people who have bravely shared their experiences with us. Remember to take care of yourself as you listen, as well as to take care of the stories that you hear.

[00:01:33] Rachel: Extremely Human is a conversation about the profound experience of extreme states. When we speak about extreme states, we want to explore a more humanistic way to understand people’s experiences that aren’t always shared by others.

[00:01:47] Lucy: Each extreme state holds different meaning for each person, including those related to psychosis, depression, grief and addiction. As we chat with a variety of humans, we explore the important question how can we respond to distress with greater compassion and humanity?

[00:02:15] Lucy: In this episode, our guest shares their experience of two extreme states, psychosis and depression. They talk about how they managed to overcome intense adversity and the teachings that followed. They speak about how reading 200 books in two years helped them find purpose, and how they found a way to find a life worth fighting for.

Thanks for coming in today. For those who don’t know who you are, would you be able to just tell us a little bit about yourself? A few tidbits.

[00:02:45] Guest: Few tidbits. Yeah. So, um. I’m just a simple human being trying to do my best out here in this crazy world. Probably one of the more interesting things about myself is that my sport of choice is parkour, which my girlfriend thinks is ever so dorky. Surprisingly, I’m quite creative. That’s not a thing that I used to be good at. Like when I was in high school, I was very academic, and then I took a gap year, and I realized I was young enough and had lots of potential. And I was like, I can do whatever I want. So I changed from, I was meant to study law and criminology, and then I did a 360 and did film and tv instead. I guess I’m still working out who I am and what I want to achieve in life and where I want to go. And, you know, there’s such an intense unpredictability about life. Like, none of us know what’s going to happen tomorrow. So I guess I love watching my life unravel like a story and getting to participate in that and be around the beautiful people that I’ve got to meet.

[00:03:41] Lucy: Such a cool way of looking at life. Like, you’re the main character in your narrative.

[00:03:45] Guest: I don’t think I am the main character of my narrative. I think I’m a side character to a lo...